Module 1 · Foundations of CAE · Lesson 02
Speaking Part 1 with Range
Talking about yourself beyond the script
Warm-up · Section 1
5 minGet talking
In pairs, answer the question 'Where are you from?' in three versions: 5 seconds, 20 seconds and 45 seconds. Which felt most natural? Which sounded most C1?
Look at these answers: 'I like my city.' / 'I am from a beautiful city.' / 'My city is good.' What makes them sound B2 rather than C1? How would you upgrade each one?
Choose two adjectives that describe you accurately — but that contradict each other slightly (e.g. 'organised but easily distracted'). Defend both to your partner.
Grammar focus · Section 2
8–10 minPresent perfect simple vs. continuous for life stages and ongoing change
C1 Speaking Part 1 frequently triggers questions about your life so far ('Have you always lived here?', 'Have you been studying English long?'). The difference between present perfect simple (focus on result / completion) and continuous (focus on duration / ongoing process) carries meaning. Mixing them shows you can describe yourself across time — not just in the present.
→ I've lived here for about five years now — it's home. (completed move, settled state)
→ I've been living here on and off since I was a student. (ongoing, irregular, in progress)
→ I've changed careers twice, actually. (two completed events)
→ I've been thinking about changing careers again, but I haven't decided. (ongoing thought process)
→ I've always been the sort of person who needs a routine. (life-long state, completed across life so far)
Question 1.Choose the most natural answer: 'Have you been working in tech long?' — '___ '
Question 2.Which best emphasises an ongoing, unfinished process?
Question 3.Pick the most C1 self-description:
Question 4.'How long ___ in your current role?' (most natural)
Build the sentence → spot the natural chunks → say it aloud → reply like a real conversation.
1.Build a present perfect continuous answer about a hobby.
2.Build a present perfect simple answer about a life event.
Vocabulary · Section 3
5–7 minWords & phrases to own
to be drawn to (something)
to feel a natural attraction or interest in
to take up (a hobby)
to start doing a new activity, especially regularly
to grow into (a role)
to gradually become comfortable in a position over time
a turning point
a moment that significantly changed your direction
fulfilling
giving a deep sense of satisfaction (esp. for work / hobbies)
demanding
requiring a lot of skill, time or effort — neutral, not negative
rewarding in its own way
satisfying for reasons that aren't obvious from outside
where I see myself heading
the direction I think my life / career is going
Tap an item on the left, then tap its match on the right.
Pronunciation · Section 4
3–4 minWeak forms in present perfect contractions
C1 speakers contract naturally — 'I've been', 'you've always', 'we'd been' — and reduce the auxiliary to a weak /əv/ or /əd/. Saying every word in full ('I have been working') sounds robotic. Drill the contractions until they're automatic.
- • /aɪv bɪn/ — 'I've been working on it.'
- • /aɪv ˈɔːlweɪz/ — 'I've always wanted to.'
- • /juːv ˈprɒbəbli/ — 'You've probably noticed.'
- • /aɪd bɪn/ — 'I'd been thinking about it for a while.'
- • Whole sentence: 'I've been getting into it more and more, actually.'
Reading · Section 5
8–10 minThe art of small talk (and why C1 examiners love it)
Small talk has a bad reputation. We often describe it as 'just' small talk — as if the real conversation were happening somewhere else. Yet in any C1-level test of spoken English, and in most adult professional contexts, the ability to do small talk well is the difference between someone who is technically fluent and someone who is genuinely at ease. Good small talk has three quiet ingredients. The first is specificity. A weak answer to 'Where are you from?' is 'a small town in the north'; a strong one is 'a small town in the north — about an hour from the coast, the kind of place where everyone knows everyone's business.' The detail does almost all the work. The second is stance: a willingness to say not just what is true but how you feel about it. 'I've lived there my whole life, for better or worse' tells your listener much more than 'I've lived there my whole life' on its own. The third is invitation: a strong small-talk answer ends in something that invites the other person back in — a question, a contrast, an admission. This is precisely what Speaking Part 1 of CAE tests. Candidates who deliver perfectly grammatical but flat answers tend to score in the upper B2 band. Candidates who add specificity, stance and invitation — even with the occasional small error — tend to creep into C1 and above. The lesson is mildly counter-intuitive: at C1, you score higher by sounding more like a person and less like a candidate.
Question 1.According to the writer, what is the main weakness of 'just small talk' as a phrase?
Question 2.What are the writer's three ingredients of good small talk?
Question 3.Which candidate is more likely to creep into C1?
Question 4.How would you describe the writer's overall tone?
Listening · Section 6
8–10 minModel Speaking Part 1 — examiner with a strong candidate
Listening audio
Tap play to listen. Replay as many times as you need.
Show transcript
Examiner:So, Maya, where are you from?
Maya:I'm from Valencia, originally — though I've been based in Berlin for the last three years. So I've kind of got two answers to that question, depending on the day.
Examiner:And what do you do?
Maya:I work in user research for a fintech start-up. It's demanding — long days, lots of interviews — but I find it genuinely fulfilling, especially when our research actually changes a product decision.
Examiner:Have you always been interested in that field?
Maya:Not always, no. I trained as a psychologist, but I've been drawn to design questions for years, so user research was a kind of bridge. It's been a real turning point, looking back.
Examiner:And in your free time?
Maya:These days I've been getting back into long-distance running, which sounds dreadful, I know, but it's rewarding in its own way. There's something about a two-hour run that resets your thinking. Do you run at all?
Question 1.How does Maya answer 'Where are you from?'
Question 2.Which evaluative phrase does Maya use about her work?
Question 3.What is the 'invitation' element in Maya's final answer?
Question 1.Which of these techniques does Maya MOST clearly use across her answers?
Exam skills · Section 7
5 minSpeaking Part 1 — interview with range
Task
Speaking Part 1 lasts ~2 minutes. The examiner asks personal questions on familiar topics (work, study, free time, future). Single-sentence answers feel thin; long monologues feel rehearsed. Aim for 3–5 sentences per answer, with detail, stance and (sometimes) invitation.
Strategy
Use a flexible 'SSI' structure for each answer: Specifics (one concrete detail) + Stance (how you feel about it / a hedged opinion) + Invitation (a soft hook for the examiner — only sometimes). Vary tense: don't get stuck in present simple.
Example
Q: 'Do you enjoy where you live?' A: 'Broadly yes — I'm in a quiet area near a park, which suits me, especially after a long day at work. I used to think I needed a busy neighbourhood, but I've changed my mind on that, actually.' (Specific + Stance + Tense range)
Practice · Section 8
8–10 minFill in the blank
Question 1.I've been ___ to design since I was a teenager.
Question 2.I'd describe my job as demanding, but ___ in its own way.
Question 3.It was a real ___ point for me, looking back.
Question 4.I've ___ into the role over the last six months.
Question 5.These days, I've been ___ up cycling on weekends.
Question 6.It's broadly where I see myself ___ , professionally.
Q1.Open Cloze (one word): 'I've ___ always been the kind of person who needs a routine.'
Q2.Key Word Transformation. Original: 'I started running a year ago and I still do it.' Use BEEN. Rewrite: 'I've ___ for a year.'
Writing · Section 9
5 minPut it in writing
Your task
Draft your 'SSI' answers (60–80 words each) for FOUR likely Speaking Part 1 questions: (1) Where you live, (2) What you do, (3) A hobby, (4) Future plans. Each answer must include at least one C1 vocabulary item, one hedge, and either a tense shift or a soft invitation.
Show model answer
Where I live: I've been based in Lisbon for about four years now, in a fairly quiet neighbourhood near the river. I'd say I'm broadly happy there — I used to want somewhere busier, but I've grown into the quietness, especially since I started working from home. It's the kind of street where you notice the seasons changing, which sounds small but actually matters to me. Hobby: I've been getting back into film photography over the last year, which sounds dreadful in the age of phones, I know. But there's something genuinely rewarding about waiting two weeks to see a roll of negatives. Have you ever tried it?
Speaking · Section 10
10–15 minMake it a real conversation
Pair rotation. In groups of three: Student A is the examiner, Student B is the candidate, Student C is the silent scorer (counts hedges, tracks tenses used, notes one missing detail). Run 3 minutes per round, then rotate roles. Use a different question set each round.
Useful phrases
- • Broadly yes / broadly no, although…
- • I'd describe it as…
- • It's been a real turning point, looking back.
- • I'm fairly drawn to…
- • I've been getting into… these days.
- • It's where I see myself heading, broadly.
- • It sounds dreadful, but…
- • Do you / Have you ever…?
- ExaminerHave you always lived in the same city?
- Candidate_______________
- ExaminerIs there anything you're hoping to learn next?
- Candidate_______________
Optional · Teacher-led
Teacher Activities
Use either or both for a longer session, depending on group energy. ~20 min total
Homework · Section 11
Take-homeTake it home
Record yourself answering five Speaking Part 1 questions using the SSI structure. Listen back. For each answer, mark one moment that worked and one you'd redo.
Write a 220-word self-introduction for a hypothetical professional networking event. It should sound like you, not a generic candidate.
Collect five evaluative adjectives + adverb pairs (e.g. 'quietly persuasive', 'genuinely fulfilling') from any C1-level text or podcast. Bring them to next lesson.
Find one short interview (2–3 mins) with someone you admire. Note three things they do that make them sound 'at ease' rather than 'rehearsed'.
Recap · Section 12
2–3 minWhat you've learned
- Speaking Part 1 isn't a script — it's small talk under observation. Specificity, stance and invitation lift answers from B2 to C1.
- Mix present perfect simple and continuous to describe yourself across time, not just now.
- Contractions ('I've', 'I'd been') are not optional polish at C1 — they're baseline fluency.
- Evaluative lexis (fulfilling, demanding, rewarding in its own way) replaces flat 'good / bad' judgements.
- The SSI structure (Specifics + Stance + Invitation) gives you a flexible answer shape for any familiar topic.
Lesson complete
Mark this lesson done in your own notes and move on when you're ready.